Vanilla Latte
by YumeTakato
Summary: It had started with the Master Gentleman Thief... [It had all started the day Kuroba Toichii died...And once again 13 years later]Please ignore the Title. I couldn't think of anything else.


Description: It had started with a Master Gentleman Thief, and ended with a Strawberry Crépe.

Takato: Well my little slaves, it seems I've concocted another fan fiction for you. One that I hope people will love.. Because I'm at the end of my writing streak, here. I honestly just am not happy with my responses for the most part. I have no one to inspire me, and it's hard to continue something when you really just don't feel the love from your readers, even if you get over a thousand hits. It still means nothing.

The use of MacGuffin will occur in this fan fiction, and I'll hope to throw in a Deus ex Machina in the end. We'll see if I even get there. Anyways, Detective Conan and any Lyrics used throughout this fan fiction are not mine. So leave me alone.

Note: I forgot Sharon's mother's name, of whome she was impersonating for a while I believe… so deal with it.

* * *

She had been in America when it had happened. That day, one she simply couldn't forget, was one that had left her reeling for a moment in her younger life. The day had been warm, the sun shining softly to kiss the skin and land, a day where one would think absolutely nothing could go wrong. It was a _good_ day. No missions, no killing, no acting, simple relaxing bliss.

Until the nighttime came.

Everything seemed to go spiraling out of control when she received the news that the renowned Kuroba Toichii had died in some freak accident.

Her teacher did _not_ die from equipment failure. It simply wasn't _possible_ for him to die from that- he was far too _careful_.

It wasn't until she went into a few files to find just _why_ he had been killed. It was then that she knew what she had to do, and thus, packed herself a bag, and got on the next flight to Japan. After the flight, she immediately went to The Boss to discuss what actions had been proposed as of how to deal with her teacher's family.

When she did finally get to the base and his office, The Boss had been sitting by his computer looking through some files when she had come in. Her hair was tied into a bun with a few strands loose for him, since he rather liked it in that fashion since she never wore it that way otherwise. It was something special for _him_ alone. She was also in a special dress that he had bought for her to wear in his presence, something only _he_ could enjoy, since she wore a light weighted black trench coat around the base otherwise. To hide it from prying eyes

He smiled when he heard her enter, and turned from his work, "_What pleasure do I have for this surprise visit, Sharon?_"

She sighed softly as she sat down in a nearby chair, "It's about my teacher's family."

The Boss looked at her with a slight hint of confusion before recognition glinted in his ever-calculating gaze, "_The Kuroba's_." When Vermouth nodded slowly, he continued, "_What of them?_"

She exhaled slowly, "I wish for you to spare them. They really don't pose much threat against us, since they were the only one's left of his family…"

The Boss nodded slowly, "_But what of the Kudo's? It seems your 'friend' was rather close to him_…"

Vermouth narrowed her brows for a moment as she thought of how to reply for a moment, "I don't believe they knew what my teacher was up to… And really, I think only Yukiko was in contact with him. I'm not even sure if they know he had a son."

After a long and drawn out pause, The boss nodded slowly and lit a clove cigarette, "_I will spare them. They might be rather… _interesting_ for us in the future._"

Vermouth nodded slowly and stood, "I better go rest.. The funeral will probably be within the next few days, and I have a few things to catch up on here…"

The Boss nodded and waved her off so he could return to his work, "_It was a pleasure to speak with you again, Sharon."_

She nodded, "As it was for me." With that she left the room, putting her trench coat back on, and letting her hair loose. After leaving the building and being escorted to a hotel room, she immediately got to calling her old friend Kudo Yukiko.

The ex-actress did not disappoint with being in Japan as well during this time, "_Hello?_"

Sharon was surprised to hear the voice of an eight year old on the other line, "Hello, is this the Kudo residence?"

The boy on the other line paused before replying, "_Yeah, who is this?_"

The actress smirked slightly, sensing the boy was a bit odd for one so young, "Just tell your mother it's a dear friend from the old days."

Shinichi twisted his face in an odd fashion as he looked at the phone incredulously. After taking a moment and shrugging to himself, he turned away from the phone and yelled, "_Okaaaa-saaaaan! There's a weird lady on the phone who wants to talk to you!_"

Being on the other line, Sharon found herself annoyed with the boy's way of getting his mother's attention and his addressing her, but she'd let it pass for now, since he was only a foolish 8 year old.

After some scuffling, another line picked up, "_You can hang up Shin-chan, I have the phone now_."

The boy, who she could now refer as 'Shin-chan' hung up and thus, left the line free. "Hello Yukiko-san."

The woman on the other line gasped happily, _"Sharon! How long has it been since we last spoke!"_

The actress laughed silently, "A little too long, but besides that. I need to talk to you about our teacher…"

Yukiko sighed heavily, "_He was murdered… I just know it. I'm no detective… but my intuition tells me he was murdered, and Yuusaku feels the same… I feel so bad about all of this, Sharon!"_

"I know," she replied nodding, "But we'll be there for his family, right?"

"_Yes. I would do anything I could for his family…"_

"Well, the least we can do, is go to his funeral, neh?"

"_Yeah."_

And they did. Slowly, but surely, a few days passed, and Sharon found herself in front of the Kuroba residence. It was set up for people to come and mourn for the late magician, and it was most definitely a long wait before she was able to pay her respects to the old friend. It was rather ethereal to be there, and to experience her teacher's death so personally.

It was when she looked up from praying and laying down a white rose that she noticed Toichii's son sitting as still as he possibly could (though she knew that was near impossible for a child to do. Especially the son of Kuroba Toichii) with his head downcast, staring at the floor silently.

It was then that Sharon knew that Kuroba Kaito would be something to see.

She would protect him for as long as she could.

She had to.

* * *

It wasn't until 13 years had passed that she ran into Kuroba Kaito personally once again.

Vermouth had been walking quietly through the large store in a dark navy blue sweater and dark worn jeans when she happened upon the cleaning supplies section. While looking for her favorite blood- ahem, stain remover, an indignant shout rang out across the floor as a sudden _argument_ of some sort started.

Of course, it only took a few moments of listening to realize that the argument was a rather _physical_ one as the sounds of glass breaking, bottles being hit and thrown across the room rather roughly, and people screaming to get out of the way occurred. The shouts of a younger woman cussing were also heard, as the boy on the receiving end egged her on, taunting and laughing as he went.

The sounds of it disturbed her, the fact it was getting _closer_ was worse, and the moment she felt her body get slammed into by another was even _worse_ as the sound of a _mop_ of all things collided with her's and her 'attacker's' side. She yelped and growled as the boy quickly scrambled away from her after the fall, rather surprised to have actually run _into_ someone.

Of course, the true attacker, a girl with hair that seemed to reach down to just under her shoulder blades gasped and immediately began to apologize and help her up, "I'm so sorry! Did I hit you anywhere? Kaito! You should have paid more attention! You _NEVER_ run into anyone when I'm chasing you! You did this on _purpose_, didn't you!"

The boy who had probably caused the fight in the first place fumbled a moment before shouting with a noticeable amount of embarrassment, "How was I supposed to know someone was in this aisle, Aoko?"

The girl, who she suddenly recognized as being Nakamori Ginzo's daughter, Nakamori Aoko, huffed, "Then apologize!" She was wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a green zip-up hoodie with a black camisole underneath it.

Kaito, who was like an exact replica of her teacher, minus the fact he had wild hair, sighed and turned to her. She noticed the boy was wearing jeans and an orange and black hoodie as he smiled and took her hand, kneeling somewhat as if he were going to propose to her. A red carnation suddenly appeared in his free hand, "Sorry about that miss, if I had known-"

Vermouth simply couldn't stand it anymore. She laughed, startling the two young adults and perhaps, even herself. It was far too amusing to keep silent about, and so, she took the carnation from him and tapped the boy on the nose, forgiving him, "It would be just like my teacher to do something as bizarre as this. Get up kid. You're apology is excepted."

Kaito stood, rather thrown off guard by her behavior, "You're teacher?" He rubbed the back of his head rather abashedly as he watched her as if she were going to transform into a rabbit or something.

Vermouth quickly regained her senses and exhaled heavily before looking at the two of them, "I think a cup of coffee- your treat- is in order for this one."

Aoko moved over to Kaito just as confused as he, "Coffee?"

She nodded, "Yup, to repay for running into me and hitting me in the side with that horrible mop of yours. Please Nakamori-san, put it back where you got it."

It took Aoko a moment before she blushed and ran off with the mop she had borrowed, also going to profusely apologize to the floor's manager before Security had a chance to cart her and Kaito off. It only took a few minutes, but before long, the trio found themselves in a rather nice coffee shop in the store.

Kaito was the first to speak after receiving his precious vanilla latte with extra whipped cream, "So, who was your teacher, uhm…?"

Vermouth blinked a moment before smiling, "Sharon."

He nodded slowly, "Right, Sharon-san." Kaito felt a sense of familiarity with the name, though he couldn't place _where_. It was the same with her face. Though it wasn't a lot, his gut was warning him that this woman was _not_ all that she seemed, in a _far_ darker way than him.

Aoko simply sat by, and listened, deciding that if she had a question Kaito didn't ask, she'd speak up.

Moving some hair off of her shoulder, questioning in the back of her mind why she had even decided to speak with Kaito in the first place, she looked at the two with a slight and friendly smile, "My teacher happened to be a rather interesting man. He was a tremendous gentleman, and the best at what he did. A master. You both knew him rather well, actually. His name was Kuroba Toichii… you're father."

Kaito's eyes widened for a moment before Poker Face seemed to slam down upon his face. Oh yeah, there _was_ a reason for those warning bells, weren't there? "You were taught by my father?"

Aoko watched between the two somewhat confused since she hadn't known Kaito's father had taken any students.

Sharon nodded slowly, "Yes, myself and a woman now named Kudo Yukiko were both taught by him a great deal of things. Though, since we were both actress', it was more so the art of disguise and being able to copy anyone else's voice.

Kaito and Aoko were stunned- Kaito more so than Aoko.

Yet, the moment of silence was suddenly broken by Kaito laughing rather uproariously, confusing the two women equally. Aoko got a little a nervous, "Kaito… What's so funny?"

Kaito couldn't believe it. So the shrunken detective's mother was an apprentice of his father? Oh, this was too good to be true! Kudo would _flip_ if he really knew about _that_ connection to the phantom thief.

Slowly, yet almost as quickly as it had come, Kaito stopped laughing and looked at Vermouth with a bit of mischief, "So that trick I used would never work on you, neh?"

Sharon laughed lightly, "Well, a woman _does_ rather enjoy a flower every now and then."

Kaito smiled, "I see. Well… I hate to cut this short, Sharon-san, but I believe Aoko and I have a prior engagement to make." He stood slowly, placing the money for the bill and tip on the counter and reached his hand out across the table to shake her hand, "It was a pleasure to meet you." Kaito, though he did somewhat like meeting this lady, knew he'd rather find out whatever he needed from Kudo's mother. Kudo's mother wouldn't send his warning bells off like _this_ woman.

She took his hand and shook it firmly, noticing how smooth his hands were, even though he was the perilous Kaitou Kid, "As it was for me." She turned to Aoko after releasing his hand, "And do keep him out of trouble. If he's anything like Toichii-san.. He'll be in a lot of mischief. But, I'm quite sure you know how to keep him in line." She winked at the girl, and Aoko found herself smirking, "As Kaito said, it was a pleasure to meet you Sharon-san." The two bowed together and turned to leave.

"Wait," It was rather random, she knew, but she simply needed to ask, "How old are you, Kaito?"

The other blinked rather confused, "21...Why do you ask?"

Sharon smirked slightly, "Just curious." With that, she turned in the other direction and made her way outside, feeling Kaito and Aoko's stare as she disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

Takato: Now Review! I tried really hard to not use lyrics, and to use lots of paragraphs. DX Now show me some appreciation for entertaining you for 5 or so pages of reading, alrighty? I haven't thought exactly how I'll get through this one, but it'll be a long one. I just know it. So give me support, or else it'll die like most of my other fics. DX

Review, and check out my profile page, because it has everything you need to know there.


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